Wednesday, December 31, 2014

President's Message December 2014

2014 has certainly been a whirlwind kind of year at the Floral Park Chamber of Commerce.  

We started off the year with a mostly new board, a group with a lot of prospects and goals for our chamber. Many meetings, much planning and tons of hard work returned our members many positive events and changes. Internally we have reorganized our committees and developed committee focus with some ambitious end games. We accomplished a lot.  

Once again Cathy Grasman and her team brought us a fantastic Floral Park Belmont Stakes Festival and Street Fair. Stephanie Scolieri and her committee gave away Elementary School Essay Contest Awards, and to a couple High School winners, scholarships. Mike Jakob and the Business Relations Committee have secured Jericho Turnpike Banners which will be proudly displayed this spring; they approved new village signage and worked on the beautiful hanging baskets along our major streets this summer.  

Communications are on a roll with the work of Mildred Tassone and her committee.  Expect much more from MIldred and her team as we move into 2015. Mildred's focus is to drive more valued and direct communication with you our members. I couldn't possibly leave out the fine work of Marjory Giordani and the rest of our Finance Committee. Their efforts are key to our continued philanthropic work and other projects we have in store as we continue to better our community.

A huge thank you goes out to all of those committee folks and their committee chairs.  
Thank you to past president Terry Whalen for her guidance and support all year long. And finally, thank you too to Eileen Dolan, our Business Person of the Year and our event coordinator. Theses meetings just get better and better over time.  

Do plan for yourself, to come to our next meeting on Thursday, January 8th at Nancy's Restaurant on Jericho and bring with you a business idea that you would like to share with your fellow merchants and chamber members. Come and get to know us, find out about the work in progress, meet new friends and become involved. There is no better way to help your community and your business than to be a member of our chamber and to participate in on of our many committees. It's a labor of love that certainly pays dividends.  

Join us, you'll be glad you did.
Happy New Year,

Ron Keats, President

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Holiday Gathering | 2014 | Crabtree's Restaurant

Chamber members enjoyed a wonderful holiday party with our friend Dimitri and his team at Crabtree's Restaurant this past Mondayt night. A beautifully sung holiday song by board member and Treasurer Shane Parouse added that perfect warm personal touch to the festivities. We had some fun with our Secret Santa gift exchange. Some extra gifts will be going directly to the Hance Family Toys for Tots collection through Mike Jakob.  

It was really nice for so many of us to be together at this special time of year. Many thanks goes to Steven Wickes and his One Sound Label DJ team who kept us well into the holiday spirit all evening. And of course, a huge thank you to our event coordinator and Business Person of the Year Eileen Dolan. 

From the officers, the board and myself, thank you for your membership and your support. 

We all wish you a Special Holiday Season!